For us Christians, the Bible actually has a massive amount of space dedicated to the topic.

For everyone else, it's really just a matter of respect. The words themselves are just noises without attached meanings, and people therefore say the words with certain intentions. For instance, someone saying "pants" in Victorian England was rebelling against restraint, while someone saying "pants" in 21st century America is just communicating a concept.

In retrospect, it don't matter whatcha say, but how ya say it. However, social convention generally determines how words are used, so saying F*** is just about always a bad thing.

For us Christians, the Bible actually has a massive amount of space dedicated to the topic.

For everyone else, it's really just a matter of respect. The words themselves are just noises without attached meanings, and people therefore say the words with certain intentions. For instance, someone saying "pants" in Victorian England was rebelling against restraint, while someone saying "pants" in 21st century America is just communicating a concept.

In retrospect, it don't matter whatcha say, but how ya say it. However, social convention generally determines how words are used, so saying F*%$ is just about always a bad thing.

Outside of the philosophical and moral implications, overdoing swear words is just a waste of time. When people drop Cluster F-bom.bs (as TV Tropes would say) in just about every sentence, they lose their point and just are obscene for the sake of being obscene. When a very important situation requires urgent help and a quick reaction, a well placed swear word to gain needed attention is, I think, justifiable. However, when you cus.s all the time for no point, people stop taking notice anyway. This could be summed up in what I call Aaron's First Law: The reaction to a person's obscene language is inversely proportional to someone's expectation of said person using obscene language in the given situation. Naturally, when you cu.ss more often, their reaction decreases.

In my opinion, cursing is not a sin. Yet, it probably isn't the best thing to do. In the new testament Jesus calls someone (can't remember who off the top of my head) a son of a snake. That sounds a lot like a phrase we like to use involving a female dog. And because Jesus never sinned, saying said phrase can't be a sin.
But, like most commands in the Bible it is a heart issue. If you say a curse word out of hate for another person, you have sinned just as much as if you had said anything out of hate.

From a non christian point of view. Curse words are cultuarl. In Ireland the "F" word is used like any other non curse word. Even the little children were saying it. In a few hundred years, people will look back and laugh about the "curse words" we use now

I think it's just trashy and rude to swear, even if you are in a panicky situation.

My friends know that if they swear around me they get the look. By not swearing I set myself apart from the regular riff-raff and better represent Christ and stand apart as one of his "peculiar people."

"But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should shew forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvellous light." (1 Peter 2:9)

God wants his people to be pure and to represent his perfect character. You can't do this if you are cursing all the time, or even just on occasions when something bad happens.
So, instead of a swear on your lips when you get angry or scared, there should be a prayer.

"For he that will love life, and see good days, let him refrain his tongue from evil, and his lips that they speak no guile: Let him eschew evil, and do good; let him seek peace, and ensue it. For the eyes of the Lord are over the righteous, and his ears are open unto their prayers: but the face of the Lord is against them that do evil." (1 Peter 3:10-12)

The very fact that we find it offensive is cultural. Just like in africa women go around shirtless and no one thinks anything of it, but if people started doing it in cities most people would find it "offensive". It's all about perspective...

In Treasure Island, Long John Silver calls a guy “You son of a Dutchman!” This was, of course, during the height of British superiority. :)

On a more serious note, the users of a language determine it’s meaning. The users of American English have determined that ‘s---’ is an extremely offensive way to express the concept of manure. If you choose to use ‘s---’ instead of ‘manure’, then that indicates you are trying to offend/shock/insult your audience. The literal meanings or regional usage of words don’t matter nearly as much as the connotations and intentions that come with them.

I don’t think ‘bloody’ is offensive, just because of where I’ve been raised. But I’d never dream of using it in front of someone from England because it’s a word we both know is designed to offend in England. (Not that I use it normally, of course… :) Likewise, I object to someone using ‘s---’ to me, even if it was acceptable 500 years ago (it was a commonplace phrase in Elizabethan England). Whether a word is or was acceptable in another place or time isn’t as relevant as whether it’s acceptable here and now.

I personally think cursing is fine, just as long as the person saying it isn't saying it simply for the reason that it's a curse word. I'm not really sure why most swear words are considered bad, and it seems silly to me. I don't curse usually because my parents are way against it. But I use those words when appropriate, because, like I said, it all seems kind of silly to me.

So if you use a word that might be considered a curseword, like "A--" for instance, but you use it with company that you know are not offended by it and don't view it as foul language, and that you yourself don't view it that way either, is it okay?

Words that I (and most of society) consider to be curse words I would never say, even if the people I was with thought it was okay.

You have to ask the question, "What would Jesus do?"

Or even better yet, "Would you say that word if you were talking to Jesus?"

Swearing and cursing should not be part of our vocabulary, no matter the circumstance.

We should use pure and gentle language that reflects the perfect and sinless nature of Christ. It is our duty as Christians.

And by the way, the word "A--" is just another word for donkey. Well, it's used that way in the Bible, anyways. So I would only use it when reading my Bible. (Though it's still rather awkward for me. :P)